Monthly Archives: February 2015

http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/25/target-says-credit-card-data-breach-cost-it-162m-in-2013-14/ By Ingrid Lunden Techcrunch.com February 26, 2015 When it comes to data breaches, retailers are one of the biggest targets these days, and today we have some detail on the costs around one of the more high-profile attacks. Target today said that it has booked $162 million in expenses across 2013 and 2014 related to its data breach, in which hackers broke into the company’s network to access credit card information and other customer data, affecting some 70 million customers. The figure, revealed in the company’s Q4 earnings published today, includes $4 million in Q4, and $191 million in gross expenses for 2014, as well as $61 million gross for 2013. Target says that the gross number was offset in part by insurance receivables of $46 million for 2014 and $44 million for 2013. This is also not including whatever expenses Target may incur as a result of class action lawsuits filed after the breach, or wider damage to its reputation with customers. In January, a federal judge gave plaintiffs the nod to proceed with their class action case against the company. Overall Target posted revenues of $21.8 billion, beating analyst estimates, and adjusted earnings per share of $1.50, beating its guidance. The company also recorded a pre-tax loss of $5.1 billion related to the company pulling out of operating in Canada. In pre-market trading, the company’s shares were up a little over 1% to $77.85 per share. […]

http://techcrunch.com/2015/02/25/target-says-credit-card-data-breach-cost-it-162m-in-2013-14/ By Ingrid Lunden Techcrunch.com February 26, 2015 When it comes to data breaches, retailers are one of the biggest targets these days, and today we have some detail on the costs around one of the more high-profile attacks. Target today said that it has booked $162 million in expenses across 2013 and 2014 related to its data breach, in which hackers broke into the company’s network to access credit card information and other customer data, affecting some 70 million customers. The figure, revealed in the company’s Q4 earnings published today, includes $4 million in Q4, and $191 million in gross expenses for 2014, as well as $61 million gross for 2013. Target says that the gross number was offset in part by insurance receivables of $46 million for 2014 and $44 million for 2013. This is also not including whatever expenses Target may incur as a result of class action lawsuits filed after the breach, or wider damage to its reputation with customers. In January, a federal judge gave plaintiffs the nod to proceed with their class action case against the company. Overall Target posted revenues of $21.8 billion, beating analyst estimates, and adjusted earnings per share of $1.50, beating its guidance. The company also recorded a pre-tax loss of $5.1 billion related to the company pulling out of operating in Canada. In pre-market trading, the company’s shares were up a little over 1% to $77.85 per share. […]

http://nypost.com/2015/02/27/cyber-hacking-si-student-changed-grades-from-his-smartphone-cops/ By Frank Rosario, Erin Calabrese and Natalie O’Neill The New York Post February 27, 2015 He’s pretty brilliant for a kid with bad grades. A tech-savvy Staten Island high-school student who studied advanced computer programming at an NYU camp used his skills to hack into a secure computer system and improve his scores, sources told The Post Thursday. Eric Walstrom, 16, a junior at New Dorp HS, made it past a password barrier and software security system using a computer in the school and set up the network so he could access it from his smartphone, the sources said. Between Dec. 14 and Feb. 9, he pulled up his report cards and transcripts and “changed those grades,” according to a criminal complaint. “You’d think a kid smart enough to hack his school’s computers would already have good grades. Maybe the DOE should hire him to expose weaknesses in their security firewalls,” a law-enforcement source said. […]

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2889469/researchers-uncover-signs-of-superfish-style-attacks.html By Gregg Keizer Computerworld Feb 26, 2015 Researchers at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) yesterday said that they had found evidence that implies attackers have exploited a security vulnerability in the Superfish adware and a slew of other programs. Superfish, a company that markets a visual search product, made the news last week when Lenovo was found to have pre-loaded the program on its consumer-grade PCs during a four-month span late last year. Lenovo has acknowledged that Superfish poses a security threat to customers, and has released a tool to eradicate the software. Microsoft, McAfee

http://gcn.com/articles/2015/02/25/nist-replication-device-security.aspx By GCN Staff Feb 25, 2015 The National Institute of Standards and Technology announced its internal report 8023: Risk Management for Replication Devices is now available. The guidance covers protecting the information processed, stored or transmitted on replication devices (RDs), which are devices that copy, print or scan documents, images or objects. Because today’s RDs have the characteristics of computing devices (storage, operating systems, CPUs and networking) they are vulnerable to a number of exploits, NIST said. Among the threats to RDs are: […]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/lake-county-news-sun/crime/ct-lns-hacking-bomb-charge-st-0226-20150225-story.html By Jim Newton News-Sun February 25, 2015 A 25-year-old Waukegan man faces felony charges for allegedly hacking into a radio system at Gurnee Mills mall to sound a false bomb alarm, according to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office. Raymond J. Kelly, who was charged Monday with communicating a false bomb alarm, is accused of orchestrating the hacking from his Waukegan home Jan. 29, said Cynthia Vargas, the state’s attorney’s communications manager. The Class 3 felony is punishable by up to five years in prison upon conviction. Kelly also was charged with two counts of tampering with a secure communication, fire or life system, a Class 4 felony that can carry a potential sentence of one to three years, according to authorities. He was being held in Lake County Jail Wednesday afternoon in lieu of $25,000 bail with a hearing scheduled for Thursday. Kelly was arrested by Gurnee police, who had tracked signals from his house to the mall, Vargas said. A subsequent search of his house turned up various portable radios, antennas and a laptop computer that are now part of the investigation, Vargas said. […]

http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/233740-nsa-staffers-rake-in-silicon-valley-cash By Cory Bennett The Hill 02/24/15 Former employees of the National Security Agency are becoming a hot commodity in Silicon Valley amid the tech industry’s battle against government surveillance. Investors looking to ride the boom in cybersecurity are dangling big paydays in front of former NSA staffers, seeking to secure access to the insider knowledge they gained while working for the world’s most elite surveillance agency. With companies desperate to protect their networks against hackers, many tech executives say the best way to develop security products is to enlist the talents of people who have years of experience cracking through them. “The stories he could tell,” venture capitalist Ray Rothrock recalled about his meetings with a former NSA employee who founded the start-up Area 1 Security. “They come with a perspective that nobody in Silicon Valley has.” […]

http://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2015/02/cyber-collaboration-government-still-work-progress/106071/ By Hallie Golden Nextgov.com Feb 25, 2015 Amid the onslaught of cyberthreats faced by federal agencies, the potential for an even larger and more sustained catastrophic version of a digital attack has become an increasingly real possibility. If such a scenario were to took take place, the Defense Department would certainly play a lead role in the response. But it likely couldn’t do it alone, according to Lt. Gen. Edward Cardon, commanding general of the Army Cyber Command. “It’s not solely going to be a DOD problem,” he said this week at a New America Foundation event on cybersecurity. Despite the fact that his organization increased exponentially in a year

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